Features

Dog owners perched at the top of a sloping hill at Newtown’s Park and Bark stand relaxed in Sunday’s surprise warmth. More than 40 degrees warmer that the minus seven degrees of two nights previous, pet owners were among many people stepping outside to soak in the sunlight Sunday.

In 25 years as a librarian at C.H. Booth Library, Beryl Harrison has served in numerous and valuable capacities. She has seen the library grow — and shrink, as digital options become equally preferred to hard copy volumes. She has worked side by side with a staff that she calls “wonderful.” She has also endeared herself to patrons and fellow staff members, through her dedication to her career.

Library Director Brenda McKinley calls her “one of the kindest people I know.

Occupation: I currently wear many hats. I’m the resident caretaker at Holcombe Hill for the Newtown Forest Association — so I get to live in the most beautiful spot in town. I’m also an abstract artist. I’m doing the starving artist thing… My charity of choice is the Resiliency Center of Newtown, and I do a fair amount of work with the kids there. In March, the kids and I are creating handmade greeting cards for the Resiliency Center, for the April 10 fundraiser gala. Kids never let me down!

Newtown Hearts of Hope has partnered with the Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Institute (MSAWI), I’m told. Every ceramic Heart of Hope painted in Newtown that is going to a veteran or to active military person will now be accompanied by a very special star. Hearts of Hope are distributed as anonymous messages of comfort. MSAWI, founded by the mother and sister of its namesake, honors Major Stuart Adam Wolfer, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2008 during a tour with the Army Reserves.

Your Newtown legislative delegation is challenging residents to help fill the Newtown Social Services Food Pantry. State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky (106), Dan Carter (2), J.P. Sredzinski (112), and State Senator Tony Hwang (28), along with the Newtown’s Social Services Department, remind Newtown residents that they are holding a food drive until the end of February, to benefit Newtown families in need. Newtown Social Services Department has a significant need for food donations year-round, especially during the winter months.

RIDGEFIELD — Don Felder may not be the first member of The Eagles you think of as you’re humming, or playing air guitar, to “Hotel California,” one of the defining classic rock songs of all time.

But Felder’s influence is as much a part of the history of the Eagles, as it is in numerous other collaborations with iconic pop and rock stars from Kenny Loggins, Stevie Nicks and Sarah McLachlan to historical musical figures like Barbra Streisand, The Bee Gees, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, and whether your heart is pounding with new love, broken to pieces, or keeping a steady beat, you need to take care of it.

Choosing heart healthy foods is one way to do so. It is pretty well agreed upon by nutritionists and doctors that variety is not only the spice of life, but the key to longevity, when it comes to food.